DC Entertainment Announces "Watchmen" Prequel Comics For This Summer

In 1986, Alan Moore's legendary comic book miniseries, Watchmen, hit stands courtesy of DC Comics. By taking a look at the dark side of the superhero psyche, Moore helped usher in a new movement in the comic book industry that focused on mature and intellectually progressive storytelling aimed at a more sophisticated audience. Along with artist Dave Gibbons, Moore's work has stood the test of time as one of the most important comics to ever be released.

Now DC Entertainment is taking a look at the events that took place before the original story with a line of Watchmen prequel comics titled Before Watchmen, according to The Source. This project will consist of seven interconnected miniseries all focusing on a different character from the original, and each will have a unique creative team.

Each issue will also include a two-page backup story titled, The Curse of the Crimson Corsair, which will be written by Len Wein with art by Watchmen colorist, John Higgins. The separate miniseries will be followed by a one-shot titled Before Watchmen: Epilogue, written and illustrated by various talents. Unfortunately Alan Moore won't be a part of this event as he has been critical of any further commercialization of his original story.

However, Watchmen's original artist, Dave Gibbons, had this to say about the project, "The original series of Watchmen is the complete story that Alan Moore and I wanted to tell. However, I appreciate DC’s reasons for this initiative and the wish of the artists and writers involved to pay tribute to our work. May these new additions have the success they desire.”

Before Watchmen is slated to start this summer, but no concrete release date has been established yet. As always, we'll have more on this story when it becomes available.